The present inventions relate generally to wireless communications antenna systems. In particular, they relate to improvements in wireless base station antenna connector mountings.
Mobile wireless access antennas, such as cellular sector antennas, are deployed in severe environmental conditions. The operational temperature range for such antennas is typically −40° C. to +70° C., and the antennas are rated to endure wind speeds of up to 240 km/h. Environmental sealing must be maintained through these weather extremes.
In known antennas, RF connectors are often located on a bottom panel, and are connected to coaxial cables one at a time. However, a recent development involves defining an interface with pre-determined locations for blocks of RF connectors, to allow for interconnection of equipment without having to field-install coaxial cable jumpers. See, for example, U.S. application Ser. No. 14/224,369, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,249,593 to Perko et al., which is incorporated by reference. These pre-determined locations for these blind mate blocks of RF connectors must be thermally stable.